Another was a thief. A cheat, swindler, genuine scum among men. He had tricked some hapless youths with some snake oil business, I do not remember the specifics. It proved to be the final straw, for a small mob of previously fooled victims hunted down the trickster and proceeded to beat him within an inch of his life. The con man, bloodied and battered, was left for dead on the side of a road after they were done.

Those that could not find the body later that day believed the wolves had gotten to him first. So you can imagine the shock of the few that found him months later, aiding the downtrodden and being charitable. All with a soft smile that was never seen before.

----

[Location: Vale Police Department]

These... are dark times for Vale. It has been two days since the rampage of a stolen Atlesian Paladin tore through the highways, and the number of deaths are stilling being tallied. So far, the total is up to around 260 deaths. With only 39 confirmed survivors of the whole ordeal. All the while, Chief Afføring is sorting through never ending reports on the situation.

From what he gathered from detectives, the onslaught began at a warehouse within the city. Uniforms and the few survivors revealed the location to be a White Fang rally point... To be honest, the sight of that room had awoken a memory he had hoped to keep forgotten.

The only thing that came close to such grotesque brutality was back in Atlas, when he was just a deputy in a small town. A pack of beowolves had broken into a cow farm and slaughtered all the livestock. Nothing but blood and viscera splattered everywhere, barely a single body intact. Both scenes almost caused him to vomit, but the fact that this time it was people, living thinking beings, will haunt his dreams for much longer.

Doing his best to not picture how those faunus died, Afføring moves on to the later half of the reports.

Reports came in that a rampaging Paladin was tearing through the streets to a highway, several bullheads were sent in to intercept. Safe to say, THAT was a horrible idea. Over all, while casualties on the highway were not as overwhelming as what happened in the warehouse, the property damage to the roads were a staggering millions of Lien.

Speaking of survivors, among the lucky few are five people of interest. Four of them being Huntresses-in-training found within the destruction of the highway. While each of them were in various states of trauma, their auras and training prove potent enough to not only keep them alive, but also heal them to where they'll be out of hospital within the next week or two.

Enough about their health. What interested the chief of police was why they were at the highway. Apparently, the four teens were trying to discover Roman Torchwick's criminal activities, which lead to one of them, Blake, being caught in the middle of that blood bath. Being one of the few survivors of that scene, he was able to find the possible cause.

He was told that after Torchwick was wrapping up his speech, Blake and another of her companions were compromised and were prepared to make a quick escape. What happened next, while understandably difficult for her to explain, she could only describe as a fever dream. While she prepared to cut power to the warehouse to lower visibility, she soon heard what she can only describe as the pulsating sound of nails on a chalkboard. Further questioning is till ongoing due to her hesitation, but so far, all four Huntress-in-training are in agreement that it was Roman Torchwick piloting the Atlesian Paladin.

To Afføring, that would have been all and they could just put another crime on Torchwick's file. However, it was the testimony of lucky number five that raised one too many questions.

Among the survivors not on the brink of death, there's a mouse faunus, female, deaf, and absolutely shell shocked. More importantly, however, still cognitive enough to give a description on what happened.

The girl admits that she and some friends were trying to join the White Fang. So they took part in the rally point and, with the help of sign language from a friend, listened to Torchwick give a speech. As it appeared to be wrapping up, the faunus says what happened next felt like her ears were starting to tingle. Like a feather being dragged across them. She was not given enough time to question this strange phenomenon, as the same friend who was helping with translation suddenly lunged at her.

Said friend was strangling her for no reason. As she struggled to get him off, another faunus tackled him away and proceeded to beat him to death. As she recovered from the sudden attack, she soon realized everyone was fighting each other. Some actually dying. Fearing for her life, she quickly rushed behind a shipping crate. She looked back out to see if she could find an escape route, only to see more of her people kill each other in the most violent ways possible.

In the process, she looked towards the stage and spotted Roman Torchwick and his partner in crime actually escape out the back. Not long after, she saw what appeared to be someone in a black suit land on top of the Paladin.

She could not make out a description of the stranger, as a stray bullet managed to hit her shoulder, causing her to duck back behind the crate in pain. As the rodent faunus applied pressure to her bleeding shoulder, she states that she soon felt tremors. As if a giant was stomping through the warehouse.

Afterwards, she proceeded to remain behind the crate, not daring to move until authorities arrived.

Chief Afføring keeps looking over the part about the stranger in the black suit in the report. After some thought, it's obvious that this slaughter is the fault of the man in black. Unfortunately, the police could not find any trace of the Atlesian Paladin after the highway collapse. How the hell an entire police department loses a fucking mech, within a heavily populated city, is genuinely mind boggling to him. It's as if the pilot is somehow able to predict the department's movements within the streets...

His thoughts unfortunately drift back to the bloody images of what has happened. The hundreds of casualties in the warehouse. Bodies dismembered and pulverized in ways that should never be imagined. The car wrecks and destroyed bullheads among the highway. Simply crushed, flung, and reduced to scrap. All with one or more unfortunate souls within every vehicle.

So much destruction committed in such a short amount of time. All caused by one person. With all these thoughts running through his head, all Svin can say to himself is one word.

Svin: How...

Just that. One little word for so many questions. How can someone unleash so much destruction in less than an hour? How could we lose someone so dangerous? How could anyone bear witness to this and not be scarred afterwards? And more importantly...

How could someone commit such evil?

[Location: A secret Xiong garage]

Radio: 'Cause I woke up, I chose violence;
Choke up, these bitches silent;
Get fucked, nowhere to hide and;
No luck, I must oblige;
I came to bludgeon all you pussies;
You could call it what you want;
I been feelin' kinda manic, I might kill 'em just for fun!

As you jam out to what might be your new theme song, high on top of a ladder leaning against a half painted Paladin, you spray black paint over the sheet taped to the Paladin's forearm. You never noticed the White Fang logo on it when you first got the thing. So you took it upon yourself to change the shitty paintjob for something better.

Continuing to hold the mask over your mouth, you finally toss aside the spray paint as you lift your leg up and shake it, preventing it from falling asleep. In the meantime, the song finally ends as the radio DJ comes back on.

DJ: That was Jake Hill's "I chose violence." Now don't go anywhere just yet, 'cause we got more bangers coming your way. Right after this short message from Lisa Lavender.

A news jingle comes on to signal the hourly news. Right as it finishes, you grab the edge of the sheet and slowly pull it away, revealing your handy work on the forearm. You soon reach down and grab a paint brush, dipping it in red paint as you continue your work.

Lisa: Tragedy strikes in the city of Vale, as a stolen Atlesian Paladin has reeked havoc across the streets and a major highway not long ago. While we are uncertain of the number of casualties from this rampage, authorities estimate it to be well over 250 deaths and several dozen injured. It is not made clear as to the who or why of the attack, but the sudden outrage from several faunus communities, along with the White Fang, implies that this could have been a direct assault upon the faunus of Vale.

You let out a little chuckle as the news lady continues to talk about your little stroll through the city. The thought of how many kills there were never crossed your mind. You were just having fun driving a mech.

As you finish your fine details on your art piece, you finally get off the ladder and get a finer look at your work. A silhouetted bears head with crossed axes underneath it now taking its rightful place for all to see.

A small smile creeps on your lips as you walk over to the mini-fridge next to the radio. As you pull out a bottle of cider, that Lisa chick finally wraps up her news coverage.

Lisa: Authorities are asking for anyone with information about the Paladin and the unknown assailant to please contact the Vale PD.

DJ: And now, "Bad" by Royal Deluxe.

As the music starts up again, you walk around the Paladin, Papa Bear, to see your handy work so far. Besides the new logo; the left arm and cockpit are painted in solid blacks and reds. A yellow toothy snarl painted across the seam of the cockpit, to make it look like you're getting eaten when you enter. You still got a lot of painting to do, but so far it's looking good.

You soon remember something about that news report as you drink your cider. The fact that no one knew it was you who rekt shit gave you a thought. Technically, you're already wanted for assault and theft here and their. If you keep your head down, nobody would know you did it....... But where's the fun in that?

This might make you sound like a maniac, but the idea of being public enemy number one just makes you all fuzzy  inside. Plus, with your semblance, you could technically win any fight thrown at you and look unstoppable. Adding more to your non-existent reputation.

Then again.... A reputation like that could be tiring. Sure, carving your name into the mountains sounds awesome, but the idea of being a boogeyman sounds just as enticing and less stressful. Commiting acts of terror from the shadows with no one being able to figure out it's you? Well that's just down right hilarious. And again; With your semblance, you were able to sneak a giant bloodied robot through the heart of the city without anyone even knowing. So you basically have a cheat code in stealth.

So that just leaves one simple choice for you........ Will they know your name, or fear the unknown?

----

1. Know your name:
-More directly involved in the RWBY plot
-Taking a more direct approach with most situations
-Take control of the Xiong Family
-Certain characters will live and die

2. Fear the unknown:
-Less directly involved in the RWBY plot
-More focused on hiding your activities
-Invested as a Xiong information broker
-Certain characters will die and live